The World English Bible (WEB): 2 Kings

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Title: The World English Bible (WEB): 2 Kings

Release Date: July, 2005 [EBook #8239]
[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
[This file was first posted on Aug 4, 2003]

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Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK The World English Bible (WEB): 2 Kings***

The Second Book of Kings

1:1 Moab rebelled against
Israel after the death of Ahab. 1:2 Ahaziah fell down through the
lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he
sent messengers, and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of
Ekron, whether I shall recover of this sickness. 1:3 But the angel of Yahweh said to
Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of
Samaria, and tell them, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you
go to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? 1:4 Now therefore thus says Yahweh,
You shall not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but shall
surely die. Elijah departed. 1:5 The messengers returned to him,
and he said to them, Why is it that you have returned? 1:6 They said to him, There came up a
man to meet us, and said to us, Go, turn again to the king who sent you,
and tell him, Thus says Yahweh, Is it because there is no God in Israel,
that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? therefore you
shall not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but shall surely
die. 1:7 He said to them, What
manner of man was he who came up to meet you, and told you these words?
1:8 They answered him, He was
a hairy man, and girt with a belt of leather about his waist. He said, It
is Elijah the Tishbite. 1:9 Then the king sent to him a
captain of fifty with his fifty. He went up to him: and behold, he was
sitting on the top of the hill. He spoke to him, man of God, the king has
said, Come down. 1:10 Elijah
answered to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire come down
from the sky, and consume you and your fifty. Fire came down from the sky,
and consumed him and his fifty. 1:11 Again he sent to him another
captain of fifty and his fifty. He answered him, man of God, thus has the
king said, Come down quickly. 1:12 Elijah answered them, If I be a
man of God, let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your
fifty. The fire of God came down from the sky, and consumed him and his
fifty. 1:13 Again he sent the
captain of a third fifty with his fifty. The third captain of fifty went
up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said
to him, man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty your
servants, be precious in your sight. 1:14 Behold, fire came down from the
sky, and consumed the two former captains of fifty with their fifties; but
now let my life be precious in your sight. 1:15 The angel of Yahweh said to
Elijah, Go down with him: don't be afraid of him. He arose, and went down
with him to the king. 1:16 He
said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Because you have sent messengers to inquire
of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel
to inquire of his word? therefore you shall not come down from the bed
where you are gone up, but shall surely die. 1:17 So he died according to the word
of Yahweh which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram began to reign in his place in
the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because
he had no son. 1:18 Now the
rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, aren't they written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

2:1 It happened, when
Yahweh would take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah went
with Elisha from Gilgal. 2:2 Elijah said to Elisha, Please wait
here, for Yahweh has sent me as far as Bethel. Elisha said, As Yahweh
lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to
Bethel. 2:3 The sons of the
prophets who were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said to him,
"Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head
today?"

He said, "Yes, I know it; hold your peace."

2:4 Elijah said to him,
Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho. He said, As
Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they came
to Jericho. 2:5 The sons of
the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him,
"Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head
today?"

He answered, "Yes, I know it. Hold your peace."

2:6 Elijah said to him,
"Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan."

He said, "As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not
leave you." They two went on. 2:7 Fifty men of the sons of the
prophets went, and stood over against them afar off: and they two stood by
the Jordan. 2:8 Elijah took
his mantle, and wrapped it together, and struck the waters, and they were
divided here and there, so that they two went over on dry ground. 2:9 It happened, when they had gone
over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you, before I am
taken from you. Elisha said, please let a double portion of your spirit be
on me. 2:10 He said, You have
asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken
from you, it shall be so to you; but if not, it shall not be so. 2:11 It happened, as they still went
on, and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and
horses of fire, which parted them both apart; and Elijah went up by a
whirlwind into heaven. 2:12 Elisha saw it, and he cried, My
father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen! He saw him no
more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces.
2:13 He took up also the
mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank
of the Jordan. 2:14 He took
the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said,
Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah? and when he also had struck the
waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha went over. 2:15 When the sons of the prophets who
were at Jericho over against him saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah
does rest on Elisha. They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the
ground before him. 2:16 They
said to him, See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men; let
them go, we pray you, and seek your master, lest the Spirit of Yahweh has
taken him up, and cast him on some mountain, or into some valley. He said,
You shall not send. 2:17 When
they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore
fifty men; and they sought three days, but didn't find him. 2:18 They came back to him, while he
stayed at Jericho; and he said to them, "Didn't I tell you, 'Don't
go?'" 2:19 The men of the
city said to Elisha, Behold, we pray you, the situation of this city is
pleasant, as my lord sees: but the water is bad, and the land miscarries.
2:20 He said, Bring me a new
jar, and put salt therein. They brought it to him. 2:21 He went forth to the spring of
the waters, and cast salt therein, and said, Thus says Yahweh, I have
healed these waters; there shall not be from there any more death or
miscarrying. 2:22 So the
waters were healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he
spoke. 2:23 He went up from
there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, some youths came out
of the city and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, you baldy; go up, you
baldhead. 2:24 He looked
behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of Yahweh. Two female
bears came out of the woods, and mauled forty-two of those youths. 2:25 He went from there to Mount
Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

3:1 Now Jehoram the son of
Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of
Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. 3:2 He did that which was evil in the
sight of Yahweh, but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put
away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3:3 Nevertheless he cleaved to the
sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; he
didn't depart from it. 3:4 Now
Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder; and he rendered to the king of
Israel the wool of one hundred thousand lambs, and of one hundred thousand
rams. 3:5 But it happened,
when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of
Israel. 3:6 King Jehoram went
out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel. 3:7 He went and sent to Jehoshaphat
the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me: will
you go with me against Moab to battle? He said, I will go up: I am as you
are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. 3:8 He said, Which way shall we go up?
He answered, The way of the wilderness of Edom. 3:9 So the king of Israel went, and
the king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven
days' journey: and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals
that followed them. 3:10 The
king of Israel said, Alas! for Yahweh has called these three kings
together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. 3:11 But Jehoshaphat said, Isn't there
here a prophet of Yahweh, that we may inquire of Yahweh by him? One of the
king of Israel's servants answered, Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who
poured water on the hands of Elijah. 3:12 Jehoshaphat said, The word of
Yahweh is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of
Edom went down to him. 3:13 Elisha said to the king of
Israel, What have I to do with you? get you to the prophets of your
father, and to the prophets of your mother. The king of Israel said to
him, No; for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them
into the hand of Moab. 3:14 Elisha said, As Yahweh of Armies
lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence
of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see
you. 3:15 But now bring me a
minstrel. It happened, when the minstrel played, that the hand of Yahweh
came on him. 3:16 He said,
Thus says Yahweh, Make this valley full of trenches. 3:17 For thus says Yahweh, You shall
not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled
with water, and you shall drink, both you and your livestock and your
animals. 3:18 This is but a
light thing in the sight of Yahweh: he will also deliver the Moabites into
your hand. 3:19 You shall
strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every
good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land
with stones. 3:20 It happened
in the morning, about the time of offering the offering, that behold,
there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with
water. 3:21 Now when all the
Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they
gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, and
upward, and stood on the border. 3:22 They rose up early in the
morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water
over against them as red as blood: 3:23 and they said, This is blood; the
kings are surely destroyed, and they have struck each man his fellow: now
therefore, Moab, to the spoil. 3:24 When they came to the camp of
Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled
before them; and they went forward into the land smiting the Moabites.
3:25 They beat down the
cities; and on every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and
filled it; and they stopped all the springs of water, and felled all the
good trees, until in Kir Hareseth only they left its stones;
however the men armed with slings went about it, and struck it. 3:26 When the king of Moab saw that
the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who
drew sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not.
3:27 Then he took his eldest
son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt
offering on the wall. There was great wrath against Israel: and they
departed from him, and returned to their own land.

4:1 Now there cried a
certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying,
Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant did fear
Yahweh: and the creditor is come to take to him my two children to be
bondservants. 4:2 Elisha said
to her, What shall I do for you? tell me; what have you in the house? She
said, Your handmaid has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil. 4:3 Then he said, Go, borrow you
vessels abroad of all your neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a
few. 4:4 You shall go in, and
shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour out into all those
vessels; and you shall set aside that which is full. 4:5 So she went from him, and shut the
door on her and on her sons; they brought the vessels to her, and
she poured out. 4:6 It
happened, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me
yet a vessel. He said to her, There isn't another vessel. The oil stayed.
4:7 Then she came and told the
man of God. He said, Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt, and live you and
your sons of the rest. 4:8 It
fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where there was a great
woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. So it was, that as often as
he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread. 4:9 She said to her husband, See now,
I perceive that this is a holy man of God, that passes by us continually.
4:10 Let us make, Please, a
little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a
table, and a seat, and a lamp stand: and it shall be, when he comes to us,
that he shall turn in there. 4:11 It fell on a day, that he came
there, and he turned into the chamber and lay there. 4:12 He said to Gehazi his servant,
Call this Shunammite. When he had called her, she stood before him.
4:13 He said to him, Say now
to her, Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care; what is
to be done for you? would you be spoken for to the king, or to the captain
of the army? She answered, I dwell among my own people. 4:14 He said, What then is to be done
for her? Gehazi answered, Most certainly she has no son, and her husband
is old. 4:15 He said, Call
her. When he had called her, she stood in the door. 4:16 He said, At this season, when the
time comes round, you shall embrace a son. She said, No, my lord, you man
of God, do not lie to your handmaid. 4:17 The woman conceived, and bore a
son at that season, when the time came round, as Elisha had said to her.
4:18 When the child was grown,
it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. 4:19 He said to his father, My head,
my head. He said to his servant, Carry him to his mother. 4:20 When he had taken him, and
brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died.
4:21 She went up and laid him
on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door on him, and went
out. 4:22 She called to her
husband, and said, Please send me one of the servants, and one of the
donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and come again. 4:23 He said, Why will you go to him
today? it is neither new moon nor Sabbath. She said, It shall be well.
4:24 Then she saddled a
donkey, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; don't slacken me
the riding, except I bid you. 4:25 So she went, and came to the man
of God to Mount Carmel. It happened, when the man of God saw her afar off,
that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is the Shunammite:
4:26 please run now to meet
her, and ask her, Is it well with you? is it well with your husband? is it
well with the child? She answered, It is well. 4:27 When she came to the man of God
to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her
away; but the man of God said, Let her alone: for her soul is troubled
within her; and Yahweh has hid it from me, and has not told me. 4:28 Then she said, Did I desire a son
of my lord? Didn't I say, Do not deceive me? 4:29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up
your waist, and take my staff in your hand, and go your way: if you meet
any man, Don't greet him; and if anyone greets you, don't answer him
again: and lay my staff on the face of the child. 4:30 The mother of the child said, As
Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. He arose, and
followed her. 4:31 Gehazi
passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but
there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him,
and told him, saying, The child has not awakened. 4:32 When Elisha was come into the
house, behold, the child was dead, and laid on his bed. 4:33 He went in therefore, and shut
the door on them both, and prayed to Yahweh. 4:34 He went up, and lay on the child,
and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on
his hands: and he stretched himself on him; and the flesh of the child
grew warm. 4:35 Then he
returned, and walked in the house once back and forth; and went up, and
stretched himself on him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child
opened his eyes. 4:36 He
called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. When she
was come in to him, he said, Take up your son. 4:37 Then she went in, and fell at his
feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went
out. 4:38 Elisha came again to
Gilgal. There was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were
sitting before him; and he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and
boil stew for the sons of the prophets. 4:39 One went out into the field to
gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds his
lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of stew; for they didn't
recognize them. 4:40 So they
poured out for the men to eat. It happened, as they were eating of the
stew, that they cried out, and said, man of God, there is death in the
pot. They could not eat of it. 4:41 But he said, Then bring meal. He
cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may
eat. There was no harm in the pot. 4:42 There came a man from Baal
Shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty
loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said, Give to
the people, that they may eat. 4:43 His servant said, What, should I
set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give the people, that they may
eat; for thus says Yahweh, They shall eat, and shall leave of it. 4:44 So he set it before them, and
they ate, and left of it, according to the word of Yahweh.

5:1 Now Naaman, captain of
the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and
honorable, because by him Yahweh had given victory to Syria: he was also a
mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 5:2 The Syrians had gone out in bands,
and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maiden;
and she waited on Naaman's wife. 5:3 She said to her mistress, Would
that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! then would he
recover him of his leprosy. 5:4 One went in, and told his lord,
saying, Thus and thus said the maiden who is of the land of Israel.
5:5 The king of Syria said, Go
now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. He departed, and took
with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold,
and ten changes of clothing. 5:6 He brought the letter to the king
of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come to you, behold, I have
sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may recover him of his leprosy.
5:7 It happened, when the king
of Israel had read the letter, that he tore his clothes, and said, Am I
God, to kill and to make alive, that this man does send to me to recover a
man of his leprosy? but consider, I pray you, and see how he seeks a
quarrel against me. 5:8 It was
so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his
clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Why have you torn your clothes?
let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in
Israel. 5:9 So Naaman came
with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house
of Elisha. 5:10 Elisha sent a
messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your
flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean. 5:11 But Naaman was angry, and went
away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and
stand, and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hand over the
place, and recover the leper. 5:12 Aren't Abanah and Pharpar, the
rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash
in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 5:13 His servants came near, and spoke
to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid you do some great
thing, wouldn't you have done it? how much rather then, when he says to
you, Wash, and be clean? 5:14 Then went he down, and dipped
himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the
man of God; and his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and
he was clean. 5:15 He returned
to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him;
and he said, See now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in
Israel: now therefore, please take a present from your servant. 5:16 But he said, As Yahweh lives,
before whom I stand, I will receive none. He urged him to take it; but he
refused. 5:17 Naaman said, If
not, yet, please let there be given to your servant two mules' burden of
earth; for your servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor
sacrifice to other gods, but to Yahweh. 5:18 In this thing Yahweh pardon your
servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there,
and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I
bow myself in the house of Rimmon, Yahweh pardon your servant in this
thing. 5:19 He said to him, Go
in peace. So he departed from him a little way. 5:20 But Gehazi the servant of Elisha
the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian,
in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: as Yahweh lives, I
will run after him, and take somewhat of him. 5:21 So Gehazi followed after Naaman.
When Naaman saw one running after him, he alighted from the chariot to
meet him, and said, Is all well? 5:22 He said, All is well. My master
has sent me, saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from the hill
country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; please give
them a talent of silver, and two changes of clothing. 5:23 Naaman said, Be pleased to take
two talents. He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags,
with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and
they bore them before him. 5:24 When he came to the hill, he took
them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house; and he let the men
go, and they departed. 5:25 But he went in, and stood before
his master. Elisha said to him, Whence come you, Gehazi? He said, Your
servant went no where. 5:26 He
said to him, Didn't my heart go with you, when the man turned from his
chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive
garments, and olive groves and vineyards, and sheep and cattle, and male
servants and female servants? 5:27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman
shall cleave to you, and to your seed forever. He went out from his
presence a leper as white as snow.

6:1 The sons of the
prophets said to Elisha, See now, the place where we dwell before you is
too strait for us. 6:2 Let us
go, we pray you, to the Jordan, and take there every man a beam, and let
us make us a place there, where we may dwell. He answered, Go you. 6:3 One said, Be pleased, I pray you,
to go with your servants. He answered, I will go. 6:4 So he went with them. When they
came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. 6:5 But as one was felling a beam, the
axe head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for
it was borrowed. 6:6 The man
of God asked, "Where did it fall?" He showed him the place. He
cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float. 6:7 He said, "Take it." So
he put out his hand and took it.

6:8 Now the king of Syria
was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying,
In such and such a place shall be my camp. 6:9 The man of God sent to the king of
Israel, saying, Beware that you not pass such a place; for there the
Syrians are coming down. 6:10 The king of Israel sent to the
place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved
himself there, not once nor twice. 6:11 The heart of the king of Syria
was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said to
them, Won't you show me which of us is for the king of Israel? 6:12 One of his servants said, No, my
lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of
Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber. 6:13 He said, Go and see where he is,
that I may send and get him. It was told him, saying, Behold, he is in
Dothan. 6:14 Therefore sent he
there horses, and chariots, and a great army: and they came by night, and
surrounded the city. 6:15 When
the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an
army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant said to
him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 6:16 He answered, Don't be afraid; for
those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 6:17 Elisha prayed, and said, Yahweh,
Please open his eyes, that he may see. Yahweh opened the eyes of the young
man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots
of fire around Elisha. 6:18 When they came down to him,
Elisha prayed to Yahweh, and said, Please smite this people with
blindness. He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
6:19 Elisha said to them, This
is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you
to the man whom you seek. He led them to Samaria. 6:20 It happened, when they were come
into Samaria, that Elisha said, Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that
they may see. Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they
were in the midst of Samaria. 6:21 The king of Israel said to
Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I strike them? shall I strike
them? 6:22 He answered, You
shall not strike them: would you strike those whom you have taken captive
with your sword and with your bow? set bread and water before them, that
they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 6:23 He prepared great provision for
them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went
to their master. The bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
6:24 It happened after this,
that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up, and
besieged Samaria. 6:25 There
was a great famine in Samaria: and behold, they besieged it, until a
donkey's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth
part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. 6:26 As the king of Israel was passing
by on the wall, there cried a woman to him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
6:27 He said, If Yahweh
doesn't help you, whence shall I help you? out of the threshing floor, or
out of the winepress? 6:28 The
king said to her, What ails you? She answered, This woman said to me, Give
your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.
6:29 So we boiled my son, and
ate him: and I said to her on the next day, Give your son, that we may eat
him; and she has hid her son. 6:30 It happened, when the king heard
the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes (now he was passing by on
the wall); and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth within on
his flesh. 6:31 Then he said,
God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat
shall stand on him this day. 6:32 But Elisha was sitting in his
house, and the elders were sitting with him; and the king sent a
man from before him: but before the messenger came to him, he said to the
elders, See you how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head?
behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door fast
against him: isn't the sound of his master's feet behind him? 6:33 While he was yet talking with
them, behold, the messenger came down to him: and he said, Behold, this
evil is of Yahweh; why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?

7:1 Elisha said, Hear you
the word of Yahweh: thus says Yahweh, Tomorrow about this time shall a
measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of
barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 7:2 Then the captain on whose hand the
king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if Yahweh should
make windows in heaven, might this thing be? He said, Behold, you shall
see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it. 7:3 Now there were four leprous men at
the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here
until we die? 7:4 If we say,
We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall
die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and
let us fall to the army of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall
live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. 7:5 They rose up in the twilight, to
go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they were come to the outermost
part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there. 7:6 For the Lord had made the army of
the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the
noise of a great army: and they said one to another, Behold, the king of
Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of
the Egyptians, to come on us. 7:7 Therefore they arose and fled in
the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys,
even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 7:8 When these lepers came to the
outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drink,
and carried there silver, and gold, and clothing, and went and hid it; and
they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried there also, and
went and hid it. 7:9 Then they
said one to another, We aren't doing right. This day is a day of good
news, and we hold our peace: if we wait until the morning light,
punishment will overtake us; now therefore come, let us go and tell the
king's household. 7:10 So they
came and called to the porter of the city; and they told them, saying, We
came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there,
neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the
tents as they were. 7:11 He
called the porters; and they told it to the king's household within.
7:12 The king arose in the
night, and said to his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have
done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore are they gone out of
the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of
the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city. 7:13 One of his servants answered,
Please let some take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the
city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel who are left in it;
behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel who are consumed); and let
us send and see. 7:14 They
took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the army
of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 7:15 They went after them to the
Jordan: and behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which
the Syrians had cast away in their haste. The messengers returned, and
told the king. 7:16 The people
went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine
flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a
shekel, according to the word of Yahweh. 7:17 The king appointed the captain on
whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate: and the people trod on
him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when
the king came down to him. 7:18 It happened, as the man of God
had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a
measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in
the gate of Samaria; 7:19 and
that captain answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if Yahweh
should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? and he said, Behold,
you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it: 7:20 it happened even so to him; for
the people trod on him in the gate, and he died.

8:1 Now Elisha had spoken
to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go you
and your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn: for Yahweh has
called for a famine; and it shall also come on the land seven years.
8:2 The woman arose, and did
according to the word of the man of God; and she went with her household,
and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 8:3 It happened at the seven years'
end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she
went forth to cry to the king for her house and for her land. 8:4 Now the king was talking with
Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Please tell me all the great
things that Elisha has done. 8:5 It happened, as he was telling the
king how he had restored to life him who was dead, that behold, the woman,
whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for
her land. Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her
son, whom Elisha restored to life. 8:6 When the king asked the woman, she
told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying, Restore
all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she
left the land, even until now. 8:7 Elisha came to Damascus; and
Benhadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man
of God is come here. 8:8 The
king said to Hazael, Take a present in your hand, and go, meet the man of
God, and inquire of Yahweh by him, saying, Shall I recover of this
sickness? 8:9 So Hazael went
to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of
Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before him, and said,
Your son Benhadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, Shall I
recover of this sickness? 8:10 Elisha said to him, Go, tell him,
You shall surely recover; however Yahweh has shown me that he shall surely
die. 8:11 He settled his gaze
steadfastly on him, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept.
8:12 Hazael said, Why weeps my
lord? He answered, Because I know the evil that you will do to the
children of Israel: their strongholds will you set on fire, and their
young men will you kill with the sword, and will dash in pieces their
little ones, and rip up their women with child. 8:13 Hazael said, But what is your
servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? Elisha
answered, Yahweh has shown me that you shall be king over Syria. 8:14 Then he departed from Elisha, and
came to his master; who said to him, What said Elisha to you? He answered,
He told me that you would surely recover. 8:15 It happened on the next day, that
he took the coverlet, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face,
so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his place. 8:16 In the fifth year of Joram the
son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram
the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. 8:17 Thirty-two years old was he when
he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 8:18 He walked in the way of the kings
of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab as
wife; and he did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh. 8:19 However Yahweh would not destroy
Judah, for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give to him a
lamp for his children always. 8:20 In his days Edom revolted from
under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. 8:21 Then Joram passed over to Zair,
and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and struck the
Edomites who surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots; and the
people fled to their tents. 8:22 So Edom revolted from under the
hand of Judah to this day. Then did Libnah revolt at the same time.
8:23 The rest of the acts of
Joram, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah? 8:24 Joram slept with his fathers, and
was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son
reigned in his place. 8:25 In
the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the
son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign. 8:26 Twenty-two years old was Ahaziah
when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's
name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel. 8:27 He walked in the way of the house
of Ahab, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as did the
house of Ahab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab. 8:28 He went with Joram the son of
Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead: and the Syrians
wounded Joram. 8:29 King Joram
returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given
him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Ahaziah the son
of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in
Jezreel, because he was sick.

9:1 Elisha the prophet
called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Gird up your
waist, and take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead.
9:2 When you come there, look
out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and
make him arise up from among his brothers, and carry him to an inner
chamber. 9:3 Then take the
vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus says Yahweh, I have
anointed you king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and don't
wait. 9:4 So the young man,
even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. 9:5 When he came, behold, the captains
of the army were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to you, captain.
Jehu said, To which of us all? He said, To you, O captain. 9:6 He arose, and went into the house;
and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, the
God of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of Yahweh, even
over Israel. 9:7 You shall
strike the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of my
servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Yahweh, at the
hand of Jezebel. 9:8 For the
whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab everyone who urinates against a wall, and him who is shut up and him
who is left at large in Israel. 9:9 I will make the house of Ahab like
the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the
son of Ahijah. 9:10 The dogs
shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to
bury her. He opened the door, and fled. 9:11 Then Jehu came forth to the
servants of his lord: and one said to him, Is all well? why came this mad
fellow to you? He said to them, You know the man and what his talk was.
9:12 They said, It is false;
tell us now. He said, Thus and thus spoke he to me, saying, Thus says
Yahweh, I have anointed you king over Israel. 9:13 Then they hurried, and took every
man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew
the trumpet, saying, Jehu is king. 9:14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat
the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth
Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria; 9:15 but king Joram was returned to be
healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he
fought with Hazael king of Syria.) Jehu said, If this be your mind, then
let none escape and go forth out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel.
9:16 So Jehu rode in a
chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. Ahaziah king of Judah
was come down to see Joram. 9:17 Now the watchman was standing on
the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and
said, I see a company. Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them,
and let him say, Is it peace? 9:18 So there went one on horseback to
meet him, and said, Thus says the king, Is it peace? Jehu said, What have
you to do with peace? turn you behind me. The watchman told, saying, The
messenger came to them, but he isn't coming back. 9:19 Then he sent out a second on
horseback, who came to them, and said, Thus says the king, Is it peace?
Jehu answered, What have you to do with peace? turn you behind me. 9:20 The watchman told, saying, He
came even to them, and isn't coming back: and the driving is like the
driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously. 9:21 Joram said, Make ready. They made
ready his chariot. Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went
out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in
the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. 9:22 It happened, when Joram saw Jehu,
that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? He answered, What peace, so long as the
prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound? 9:23 Joram turned his hands, and fled,
and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, Ahaziah. 9:24 Jehu drew his bow with his full
strength, and struck Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his
heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. 9:25 Then said Jehu to Bidkar
his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth
the Jezreelite; for remember how that, when I and you rode together after
Ahab his father, Yahweh laid this burden on him: 9:26 Surely I have seen yesterday the
blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, says Yahweh; and I will
requite you in this plat, says Yahweh. Now therefore take and cast him
into the plat of ground, according to the word of Yahweh. 9:27 But when Ahaziah the king of
Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. Jehu followed
after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot: and they struck
him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. He fled to Megiddo, and
died there. 9:28 His servants
carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his
fathers in the city of David. 9:29 In the eleventh year of Joram the
son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah. 9:30 When Jehu was come to Jezreel,
Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and
looked out at the window. 9:31 As Jehu entered in at the gate,
she said, Is it peace, you Zimri, your master's murderer? 9:32 He lifted up his face to the
window, and said, Who is on my side? who? There looked out to him two or
three eunuchs. 9:33 He said,
Throw her down. So they threw her down; and some of her blood was
sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trod her under foot.
9:34 When he was come in, he
ate and drink; and he said, See now to this cursed woman, and bury her;
for she is a king's daughter. 9:35 They went to bury her; but they
found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her
hands. 9:36 Therefore they
came back, and told him. He said, This is the word of Yahweh, which he
spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of
Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel; 9:37 and the body of Jezebel shall be
as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they
shall not say, This is Jezebel.

10:1 Now Ahab had seventy
sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of
Jezreel, even the elders, and to those who brought up the sons of
Ahab, saying, 10:2 Now as soon
as this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and
there are with you chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and armor;
10:3 look you out the best and
meet of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight
for your master's house. 10:4 But they were exceedingly afraid,
and said, Behold, the two kings didn't stand before him: how then shall we
stand? 10:5 He who was over
the household, and he who was over the city, the elders also, and those
who brought up the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your
servants, and will do all that you shall bid us; we will not make any man
king: you do that which is good in your eyes. 10:6 Then he wrote a letter the second
time to them, saying, If you be on my side, and if you will listen to my
voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to
Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons,
were with the great men of the city, who brought them up. 10:7 It happened, when the letter came
to them, that they took the king's sons, and killed them, even seventy
persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel.
10:8 There came a messenger,
and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. He
said, Lay you them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the
morning. 10:9 It happened in
the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, You
are righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and killed him; but
who struck all these? 10:10 Know now that there shall fall
to the earth nothing of the word of Yahweh, which Yahweh spoke concerning
the house of Ahab: for Yahweh has done that which he spoke by his servant
Elijah. 10:11 So Jehu struck
all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men,
and his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him none
remaining. 10:12 He arose and
departed, and went to Samaria. As he was at the shearing house of the
shepherds in the way, 10:13 Jehu met with the brothers of
Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are you? They answered, We are the
brothers of Ahaziah: and we go down to Greet the children of the king and
the children of the queen. 10:14 He said, Take them alive. They
took them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing house, even
two and forty men; neither left he any of them. 10:15 When he was departed there, he
lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he greeted
him, and said to him, Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?
Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me your hand. He gave him his
hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot. 10:16 He said, Come with me, and see
my zeal for Yahweh. So they made him ride in his chariot. 10:17 When he came to Samaria, he
struck all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him,
according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke to Elijah. 10:18 Jehu gathered all the people
together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve
him much. 10:19 Now therefore
call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers, and all his
priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to
Baal; whoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in
subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.
10:20 Jehu said, Sanctify a
solemn assembly for Baal. They proclaimed it. 10:21 Jehu sent through all Israel:
and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left
that didn't come. They came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal
was filled from one end to another. 10:22 He said to him who was over the
vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. He brought
them forth vestments. 10:23 Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son
of Rechab, into the house of Baal; and he said to the worshippers of Baal,
Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of
Yahweh, but the worshippers of Baal only. 10:24 They went in to offer sacrifices
and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had appointed him eighty men outside, and
said, If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, he who
lets him go, his life shall be for the life of him. 10:25 It happened, as soon as he had
made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard
and to the captains, Go in, and kill them; let none come forth. They
struck them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains
cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal. 10:26 They brought forth the pillars
that were in the house of Baal, and burned them. 10:27 They broke down the pillar of
Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a latrine, to this
day. 10:28 Thus Jehu destroyed
Baal out of Israel. 10:29 However from the sins of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin, Jehu didn't
depart from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in
Bethel, and that were in Dan. 10:30 Yahweh said to Jehu, Because you
have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and
have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your
sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. 10:31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in
the law of Yahweh, the God of Israel, with all his heart: he didn't depart
from the sins of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin. 10:32 In those days Yahweh began to
cut off from Israel: and Hazael struck them in all the borders of Israel;
10:33 from the Jordan
eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the
Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead
and Bashan. 10:34 Now the rest
of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, aren't they
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 10:35 Jehu slept with his fathers; and
they buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place. 10:36 The time that Jehu reigned over
Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

11:1 Now when Athaliah the
mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all
the seed royal. 11:2 But
Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the
son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were
slain, even him and his nurse, and put them in the bedchamber; and
they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain; 11:3 He was with her hid in the house
of Yahweh six years. Athaliah reigned over the land. 11:4 In the seventh year Jehoiada sent
and fetched the captains over hundreds of the Carites and of the guard,
and brought them to him into the house of Yahweh; and he made a covenant
with them, and took an oath of them in the house of Yahweh, and showed
them the king's son. 11:5 He
commanded them, saying, This is the thing that you shall do: a third part
of you, who come in on the Sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the
king's house; 11:6 A third
part shall be at the gate Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the
guard: so you shall keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier. 11:7 The two companies of you, even
all who go forth on the Sabbath, shall keep the watch of the house of
Yahweh about the king. 11:8 You shall surround the king,
every man with his weapons in his hand; and he who comes within the ranks,
let him be slain: and be you with the king when he goes out, and when he
comes in. 11:9 The captains
over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and
they took every man his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath,
with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the
priest. 11:10 The priest
delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had
been king David's, which were in the house of Yahweh. 11:11 The guard stood, every man with
his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side
of the house, along by the altar and the house, around the king. 11:12 Then he brought out the king's
son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony; and they
made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said,
Long live the king. 11:13 When Athaliah heard the noise of
the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the house
of Yahweh: 11:14 and she
looked, and behold, the king stood by the pillar, as the manner was, and
the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land
rejoiced, and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and cried,
Treason! treason! 11:15 Jehoiada the priest commanded
the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them,
Have her forth between the ranks; and him who follows her kill with the
sword. For the priest said, Don't let her be slain in the house of Yahweh.
11:16 So they made way for
her; and she went by the way of the horses' entry to the king's house: and
there was she slain. 11:17 Jehoiada made a covenant between
Yahweh and the king and the people, that they should be Yahweh's people;
between the king also and the people. 11:18 All the people of the land went
to the house of Baal, and broke it down; his altars and his images broke
they in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the
altars. The priest appointed officers over the house of Yahweh. 11:19 He took the captains over
hundreds, and the Carites, and the guard, and all the people of the land;
and they brought down the king from the house of Yahweh, and came by the
way of the gate of the guard to the king's house. He sat on the throne of
the kings. 11:20 So all the
people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. Athaliah they had
slain with the sword at the king's house. 11:21 Jehoash was seven years old when
he began to reign.

12:1 In the seventh year of
Jehu began Jehoash to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and
his mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 12:2 Jehoash did that which was right
in the eyes of Yahweh all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed
him. 12:3 However the high
places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense
in the high places. 12:4 Jehoash said to the priests, All
the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of Yahweh, in
current money, the money of the persons for whom each man is rated, and
all the money that it comes into any man's heart to bring into the house
of Yahweh, 12:5 let the
priests take it to them, every man from his acquaintance; and they shall
repair the breaches of the house, wherever any breach shall be found.
12:6 But it was so, that in
the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired
the breaches of the house. 12:7 Then king Jehoash called for
Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests, and said to them,
Why don't you repair the breaches of the house? now therefore take no
more money from your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches
of the house. 12:8 The priests
consented that they should take no more money from the people,
neither repair the breaches of the house. 12:9 But Jehoiada the priest took a
chest, and bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the
right side as one comes into the house of Yahweh: and the priests who kept
the threshold put therein all the money that was brought into the house of
Yahweh. 12:10 It was so, when
they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribe
and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and counted the money
that was found in the house of Yahweh. 12:11 They gave the money that was
weighed out into the hands of those who did the work, who had the
oversight of the house of Yahweh: and they paid it out to the carpenters
and the builders, who worked on the house of Yahweh, 12:12 and to the masons and the stone
cutters, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the breaches of the
house of Yahweh, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it.
12:13 But there were not made
for the house of Yahweh cups of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any
vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into
the house of Yahweh; 12:14 for
they gave that to those who did the work, and repaired therewith the house
of Yahweh. 12:15 Moreover they
didn't demand an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered
the money to give to those who did the work; for they dealt faithfully.
12:16 The money for the
trespass offerings, and the money for the sin offerings, was not brought
into the house of Yahweh: it was the priests'. 12:17 Then Hazael king of Syria went
up, and fought against Gath, and took it; and Hazael set his face to go up
to Jerusalem. 12:18 Jehoash
king of Judah took all the holy things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and
Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own holy
things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of
Yahweh, and of the king's house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and
he went away from Jerusalem. 12:19 Now the rest of the acts of
Joash, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah? 12:20 His servants arose, and made a
conspiracy, and struck Joash at the house of Millo, on the way that
goes down to Silla. 12:21 For
Jozacar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his
servants, struck him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in
the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

13:1 In the three and
twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the
son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned
seventeen years. 13:2 He did
that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and followed the sins of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; he didn't
depart from it. 13:3 The anger
of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand
of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael,
continually. 13:4 Jehoahaz
begged Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him; for he saw the oppression of
Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them. 13:5 (Yahweh gave Israel a savior, so
that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of
Israel lived in their tents as before. 13:6 Nevertheless they didn't depart
from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin,
but walked therein: and there remained the Asherah also in Samaria.)
13:7 For he didn't leave to
Jehoahaz of the people save fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten
thousand footmen; for the king of Syria destroyed them, and made them like
the dust in threshing. 13:8 Now the rest of the acts of
Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, aren't they written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 13:9 Jehoahaz slept with his fathers;
and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his place.
13:10 In the thirty-seventh
year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign
over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. 13:11 He did that which was evil in
the sight of Yahweh; he didn't depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the
son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; but he walked therein.
13:12 Now the rest of the acts
of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against
Amaziah king of Judah, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Israel? 13:13 Joash slept with his fathers;
and Jeroboam sat on his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the
kings of Israel. 13:14 Now
Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness of which he died: and Joash the
king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and said, My father,
my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen! 13:15 Elisha said to him, Take bow and
arrows; and he took to him bow and arrows. 13:16 He said to the king of Israel,
Put your hand on the bow; and he put his hand on it. Elisha laid
his hands on the king's hands. 13:17 He said, Open the window
eastward; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot; and he shot. He said,
Yahweh's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria; for you
shall strike the Syrians in Aphek, until you have consumed them. 13:18 He said, Take the arrows; and he
took them. He said to the king of Israel, Smite on the ground; and he
struck thrice, and stayed. 13:19 The man of God was angry with
him, and said, You should have struck five or six times: then had you
struck Syria until you had consumed it, whereas now you shall strike Syria
but thrice. 13:20 Elisha died,
and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the
coming in of the year. 13:21 It happened, as they were
burying a man, that behold, they spied a band; and they cast the man into
the tomb of Elisha: and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he
revived, and stood up on his feet. 13:22 Hazael king of Syria oppressed
Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 13:23 But Yahweh was gracious to them,
and had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his
covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them,
neither cast he them from his presence as yet. 13:24 Hazael king of Syria died; and
Benhadad his son reigned in his place. 13:25 Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took
again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities which he
had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did
Joash strike him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

14:1 In the second year of
Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel began Amaziah the son of Joash king of
Judah to reign. 14:2 He was
twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine
years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.
14:3 He did that which was
right in the eyes of Yahweh, yet not like David his father: he did
according to all that Joash his father had done. 14:4 However the high places were not
taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high
places. 14:5 It happened, as
soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, that he killed his
servants who had slain the king his father: 14:6 but the children of the murderers
he didn't put to death; according to that which is written in the book of
the law of Moses, as Yahweh commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be
put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the
fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin. 14:7 He killed of Edom in the Valley
of Salt ten thousand, and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel,
to this day. 14:8 Then Amaziah
sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of
Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. 14:9 Jehoash the king of Israel sent
to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to
the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as
wife: and there passed by a wild animal that was in Lebanon, and trod down
the thistle. 14:10 You have
indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up: glory of it, and
abide at home; for why should you meddle to your hurt, that you
should fall, even you, and Judah with you? 14:11 But Amaziah would not hear. So
Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked
one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 14:12 Judah was defeated by Israel;
and they fled every man to his tent. 14:13 Jehoash king of Israel took
Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth
Shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from
the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits. 14:14 He took all the gold and silver,
and all the vessels that were found in the house of Yahweh, and in the
treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
14:15 Now the rest of the acts
of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah
king of Judah, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel? 14:16 Jehoash
slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of
Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place. 14:17 Amaziah the son of Joash king of
Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel
fifteen years. 14:18 Now the
rest of the acts of Amaziah, aren't they written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah? 14:19 They made a conspiracy against
him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent after him to
Lachish, and killed him there. 14:20 They brought him on horses; and
he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. 14:21 All the people of Judah took
Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his
father Amaziah. 14:22 He built
Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his
fathers. 14:23 In the
fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son
of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned
forty-one years. 14:24 He did
that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: he didn't depart from all the
sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.
14:25 He restored the border
of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according
to the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant
Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath Hepher. 14:26 For Yahweh saw the affliction of
Israel, that it was very bitter; for there was none shut up nor left at
large, neither was there any helper for Israel. 14:27 Yahweh didn't say that he would
blot out the name of Israel from under the sky; but he saved them by the
hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. 14:28 Now the rest of the acts of
Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he
recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, for
Israel, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel? 14:29 Jeroboam slept
with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son
reigned in his place.

15:1 In the twenty-seventh
year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah
to reign. 15:2 Sixteen years
old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-two years in
Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 15:3 He did that which was right in
the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
15:4 However the high places
were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the
high places. 15:5 Yahweh
struck the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and lived
in a separate house. Jotham the king's son was over the household, judging
the people of the land. 15:6 Now the rest of the acts of
Azariah, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah? 15:7 Azariah slept with his fathers;
and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his
son reigned in his place. 15:8 In the thirty-eighth year of
Azariah king of Judah did Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel
in Samaria six months. 15:9 He
did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as his fathers had done:
he didn't depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he
made Israel to sin. 15:10 Shallum the son of Jabesh
conspired against him, and struck him before the people, and killed him,
and reigned in his place. 15:11 Now the rest of the acts of
Zechariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel. 15:12 This
was the word of Yahweh which he spoke to Jehu, saying, Your sons to the
fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. So it came to pass.
15:13 Shallum the son of
Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of
Judah; and he reigned the space of a month in Samaria. 15:14 Menahem the son of Gadi went up
from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and struck Shallum the son of Jabesh in
Samaria, and killed him, and reigned in his place. 15:15 Now the rest of the acts of
Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 15:16 Then Menahem struck Tiphsah, and
all who were therein, and its borders, from Tirzah: because they didn't
open to him, therefore he struck it; and all the women therein who were
with child he ripped up. 15:17 In the nine and thirtieth year
of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over
Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. 15:18 He did that which was evil in
the sight of Yahweh: he didn't depart all his days from the sins of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. 15:19 There came against the land Pul
the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents of silver,
that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
15:20 Menahem exacted the
money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty
shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria
turned back, and didn't stay there in the land. 15:21 Now the rest of the acts of
Menahem, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Israel? 15:22 Menahem slept with his fathers;
and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place. 15:23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah
king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in
Samaria, and reigned two years. 15:24 He did that which was evil in
the sight of Yahweh: he didn't depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. 15:25 Pekah the son of Remaliah, his
captain, conspired against him, and struck him in Samaria, in the castle
of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of
the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his place. 15:26 Now the rest of the acts of
Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Israel. 15:27 In the two and fiftieth year of
Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel
in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. 15:28 He did that which was evil in
the sight of Yahweh: he didn't depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of
Israel came Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel Beth
Maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all
the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. 15:30 Hoshea the son of Elah made a
conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck him, and killed
him, and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of
Uzziah. 15:31 Now the rest of
the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 15:32 In the second year of Pekah the
son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of
Judah to reign. 15:33 He was
twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years
in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok.
15:34 He did that which was
right in the eyes of Yahweh; he did according to all that his father
Uzziah had done. 15:35 However
the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and
burned incense in the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of
Yahweh. 15:36 Now the rest of
the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 15:37 In those days Yahweh began to
send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.
15:38 Jotham slept with his
fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father:
and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

16:1 In the seventeenth
year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah
began to reign. 16:2 Twenty
years old was Ahaz when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in
Jerusalem: and he didn't do that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh his
God, like David his father. 16:3 But he walked in the way of the
kings of Israel, yes, and made his son to pass through the fire, according
to the abominations of the nations, whom Yahweh cast out from before the
children of Israel. 16:4 He
sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and
under every green tree. 16:5 Then Rezin king of Syria and
Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they
besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. 16:6 At that time Rezin king of Syria
recovered Elath to Syria, and drove the Jews from Elath; and the Syrians
came to Elath, and lived there, to this day. 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to
Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son:
come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the
hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me. 16:8 Ahaz took the silver and gold
that was found in the house of Yahweh, and in the treasures of the king's
house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. 16:9 The king of Assyria listened to
him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and
carried the people of it captive to Kir, and killed Rezin. 16:10 King Ahaz went to Damascus to
meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at
Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the
altar, and its pattern, according to all its workmanship. 16:11 Urijah the priest built an
altar: according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so did
Urijah the priest make it against the coming of king Ahaz from Damascus.
16:12 When the king was come
from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king drew near to the
altar, and offered thereon. 16:13 He burnt his burnt offering and
his meal offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood
of his peace offerings, on the altar. 16:14 The bronze altar, which was
before Yahweh, he brought from the forefront of the house, from between
his altar and the house of Yahweh, and put it on the north side of his
altar. 16:15 King Ahaz
commanded Urijah the priest, saying, On the great altar burn the morning
burnt offering, and the evening meal offering, and the king's burnt
offering, and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people
of the land, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings; and
sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of
the sacrifice: but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by. 16:16 Urijah the priest did so,
according to all that king Ahaz commanded. 16:17 King Ahaz cut off the panels of
the bases, and removed the basin from off them, and took down the sea from
off the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it on a pavement of stone.
16:18 The covered way for the
Sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry outside,
turned he to the house of Yahweh, because of the king of Assyria. 16:19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz
which he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah? 16:20 Ahaz
slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of
David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

17:1 In the twelfth year of
Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over
Israel, and reigned nine years. 17:2 He did that which was evil in the
sight of Yahweh, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.
17:3 Against him came up
Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and brought
him tribute. 17:4 The king of
Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king
of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done
year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in
prison. 17:5 Then the king of
Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and
besieged it three years. 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the
king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and
placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the
cities of the Medes. 17:7 It
was so, because the children of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their
God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, 17:8 and walked in the statutes of the
nations, whom Yahweh cast out from before the children of Israel, and of
the kings of Israel, which they made. 17:9 The children of Israel did
secretly things that were not right against Yahweh their God: and they
built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen
to the fortified city; 17:10 and they set them up pillars and
Asherim on every high hill, and under every green tree; 17:11 and there they burnt incense in
all the high places, as did the nations whom Yahweh carried away before
them; and they worked wicked things to provoke Yahweh to anger; 17:12 and they served idols, of which
Yahweh had said to them, You shall not do this thing. 17:13 Yet Yahweh testified to Israel,
and to Judah, by every prophet, and every seer, saying, Turn you from your
evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the
law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants
the prophets. 17:14 Notwithstanding, they would not
hear, but hardened their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who didn't
believe in Yahweh their God. 17:15 They rejected his statutes, and
his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he
testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and
went after the nations that were around them, concerning whom
Yahweh had commanded them that they should not do like them. 17:16 They forsook all the
commandments of Yahweh their God, and made them molten images, even two
calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and
served Baal. 17:17 They caused
their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used
divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evil
in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger. 17:18 Therefore Yahweh was very angry
with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but
the tribe of Judah only. 17:19 Also Judah didn't keep the
commandments of Yahweh their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel
which they made. 17:20 Yahweh
rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them
into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
17:21 For he tore Israel from
the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and
Jeroboam drove Israel from following Yahweh, and made them sin a great
sin. 17:22 The children of
Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they didn't depart
from them; 17:23 until Yahweh
removed Israel out of his sight, as he spoke by all his servants the
prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria to
this day. 17:24 The king of
Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from
Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of
the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and lived in the
cities of it. 17:25 So it was,
at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they didn't fear Yahweh:
therefore Yahweh sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 17:26 Therefore they spoke to the king
of Assyria, saying, The nations which you have carried away, and placed in
the cities of Samaria, don't know the law of the god of the land:
therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them,
because they don't know the law of the god of the land. 17:27 Then the king of Assyria
commanded, saying, Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from
there; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of
the god of the land. 17:28 So
one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived
in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Yahweh. 17:29 However every nation made gods
of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the
Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived.
17:30 The men of Babylon made
Succoth Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath
made Ashima, 17:31 and the
Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burnt their children
in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 17:32 So they feared Yahweh, and made
to them from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed
for them in the houses of the high places. 17:33 They feared Yahweh, and served
their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had
been carried away. 17:34 To
this day they do after the former manner: they don't fear Yahweh, neither
do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law
or after the commandment which Yahweh commanded the children of Jacob,
whom he named Israel; 17:35 with whom Yahweh had made a
covenant, and commanded them, saying, You shall not fear other gods, nor
bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: 17:36 but Yahweh, who brought you up
out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm,
him you shall fear, and to him you shall bow yourselves, and to him you
shall sacrifice: 17:37 and the
statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment, which he
wrote for you, you shall observe to do forevermore; and you shall not fear
other gods: 17:38 and the
covenant that I have made with you you shall not forget; neither shall you
fear other gods: 17:39 but you
shall fear Yahweh your God; and he will deliver you out of the hand of all
your enemies. 17:40 However
they did not listen, but they did after their former manner. 17:41 So these nations feared Yahweh,
and served their engraved images; their children likewise, and their
children's children, as did their fathers, so do they to this day.

18:1 Now it happened in the
third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of
Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 18:2 He was twenty-five years old when
he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem: and his
mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 18:3 He did that which was right in
the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.
18:4 He removed the high
places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and he broke in
pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for to those days the
children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.
18:5 He trusted in Yahweh, the
God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of
Judah, nor among them that were before him. 18:6 For he joined with Yahweh; he
didn't depart from following him, but kept his commandments, which Yahweh
commanded Moses. 18:7 Yahweh
was with him; wherever he went forth he prospered: and he rebelled against
the king of Assyria, and didn't serve him. 18:8 He struck the Philistines to Gaza
and its borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.
18:9 It happened in the fourth
year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah
king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria,
and besieged it. 18:10 At the
end of three years they took it: in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was
the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 18:11 The king of Assyria carried
Israel away to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river
of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 18:12 because they didn't obey the
voice of Yahweh their God, but transgressed his covenant, even all that
Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded, and would not hear it, nor do it.
18:13 Now in the fourteenth
year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all
the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. 18:14 Hezekiah king of Judah sent to
the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me:
that which you put on me will I bear. The king of Assyria appointed to
Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents
of gold. 18:15 Hezekiah gave
him all the silver that was found in the house of Yahweh, and in
the treasures of the king's house. 18:16 At that time did Hezekiah cut
off the gold from the doors of the temple of Yahweh, and
from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and
gave it to the king of Assyria. 18:17 The king of Assyria sent Tartan
and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army
to Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they were come up,
they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the
highway of the fuller's field. 18:18 When they had called to the
king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the
household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
18:19 Rabshakeh said to them,
Say you now to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria,
What confidence is this in which you trust? 18:20 You say (but they are but vain
words), There is counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom do
you trust, that you have rebelled against me? 18:21 Now, behold, you trust on the
staff of this bruised reed, even on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will
go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who
trust on him. 18:22 But if you
tell me, We trust in Yahweh our God; isn't that he whose high places and
whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to
Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? 18:23 Now therefore, Please give
pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand
horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 18:24 How then can you turn away the
face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put your
trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 18:25 Am I now come up without Yahweh
against this place to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, Go up against this
land, and destroy it. 18:26 Then said Eliakim the son of
Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, to Rabshakeh, Please speak to your
servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and don't speak
with us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people who are on the
wall. 18:27 But Rabshakeh said
to them, Has my master sent me to your master, and to you, to speak these
words? Hasn't he sent me to the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own
dung, and to drink their own water with you? 18:28 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried
with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spoke, saying, Hear you the
word of the great king, the king of Assyria. 18:29 Thus says the king, Don't let
Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his
hand: 18:30 neither let
Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, Yahweh will surely deliver us,
and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
18:31 Don't listen to
Hezekiah: for thus says the king of Assyria, Make your peace with me, and
come out to me; and eat you everyone of his vine, and everyone of his fig
tree, and everyone drink the waters of his own cistern; 18:32 Until I come and take you away
to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of
bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and of honey, that you may
live, and not die: and don't listen to Hezekiah, when he persuades you,
saying, Yahweh will deliver us. 18:33 Has any of the gods of the
nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
18:34 Where are the gods of
Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and
Ivvah? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 18:35 Who are they among all the gods
of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that
Yahweh should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? 18:36 But the people held their peace,
and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, saying, Don't
answer him. 18:37 Then came
Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the
scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their
clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

19:1 It happened, when king
Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with
sackcloth, and went into the house of Yahweh. 19:2 He sent Eliakim, who was over the
household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered
with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 19:3 They said to him, Thus says
Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection;
for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring
forth. 19:4 It may be Yahweh
your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria
his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words
which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the
remnant that is left. 19:5 So
the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 19:6 Isaiah said to them, Thus you
shall tell your master, Thus says Yahweh, Don't be afraid of the words
that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have
blasphemed me. 19:7 Behold, I
will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear news, and shall return to his
own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
19:8 So Rabshakeh returned,
and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard
that he was departed from Lachish. 19:9 When he heard say of Tirhakah
king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against you, he sent
messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 19:10 Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah
king of Judah, saying, Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you,
saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
19:11 Behold, you have heard
what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them
utterly: and shall you be delivered? 19:12 Have the gods of the nations
delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and
Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar? 19:13 Where is the king of Hamath, and
the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and
Ivvah? 19:14 Hezekiah received
the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went
up to the house of Yahweh, and spread it before Yahweh. 19:15 Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh,
and said, Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sit above the cherubim,
you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you
have made heaven and earth. 19:16 Incline your ear, Yahweh, and
hear; open your eyes, Yahweh, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib,
with which he has sent him to defy the living God. 19:17 Of a truth, Yahweh, the kings of
Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 19:18 and have cast their gods into
the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and
stone; therefore they have destroyed them. 19:19 Now therefore, Yahweh our God,
save you us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the
earth may know that you Yahweh are God alone. 19:20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent
to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Whereas you have
prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.
19:21 This is the word that
Yahweh has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised
you and ridiculed you; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at
you. 19:22 Whom have you
defied and blasphemed? and against whom have you exalted your voice and
lifted up your eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
19:23 By your messengers you
have defied the Lord, and have said, With the multitude of my chariots am
I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of
Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars of it, and the choice fir
trees of it; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest
of his fruitful field. 19:24 I
have dug and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry
up all the rivers of Egypt. 19:25 Haven't you heard how I have
done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to
pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous
heaps. 19:26 Therefore their
inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they
were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the
housetops, and as grain blasted before it is grown up. 19:27 But I know your sitting down,
and your going out, and your coming in, and your raging against me.
19:28 Because of your raging
against me, and because your arrogance is come up into my ears, therefore
will I put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will
turn you back by the way by which you came. 19:29 This shall be the sign to you:
You shall eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year
that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow you, and reap,
and plant vineyards, and eat its fruit. 19:30 The remnant that has escaped of
the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
19:31 For out of Jerusalem
shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape:
the zeal of Yahweh shall perform this. 19:32 Therefore thus says Yahweh
concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come to this city, nor shoot
an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a
mound against it. 19:33 By the
way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come to
this city, says Yahweh. 19:34 For I will defend this city to
save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 19:35 It happened that night, that the
angel of Yahweh went forth, and struck in the camp of the Assyrians one
hundred eighty-five thousand: and when men arose early in the morning,
behold, these were all dead bodies. 19:36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria
departed, and went and returned, and lived at Nineveh. 19:37 It happened, as he was
worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer
struck him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar
Haddon his son reigned in his place.

20:1 In those days was
Hezekiah sick to death. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him,
and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Set your house in order: for you shall
die, and not live. 20:2 Then
he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Yahweh, saying, 20:3 Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you,
how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have
done that which is good in your sight. Hezekiah wept sore. 20:4 It happened, before Isaiah was
gone out into the middle part of the city, that the word of Yahweh came to
him, saying, 20:5 Turn back,
and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, Thus says Yahweh, the God of
David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears:
behold, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of
Yahweh. 20:6 I will add to
your days fifteen years; and I will deliver you and this city out of the
hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for my own sake,
and for my servant David's sake. 20:7 Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs.
They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. 20:8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What
shall be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I shall go up to the
house of Yahweh the third day? 20:9 Isaiah said, This shall be the
sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he has spoken:
shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps? 20:10 Hezekiah answered, It is a light
thing for the shadow to decline ten steps: nay, but let the shadow return
backward ten steps. 20:11 Isaiah the prophet cried to
Yahweh; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone
down on the dial of Ahaz. 20:12 At that time Berodach Baladan
the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to
Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 20:13 Hezekiah listened to them, and
showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the
gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor,
and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house,
nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn't show them. 20:14 Then came Isaiah the prophet to
king Hezekiah, and said to him, What said these men? and from whence came
they to you? Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from
Babylon. 20:15 He said, What
have they seen in your house? Hezekiah answered, All that is in my house
have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown
them. 20:16 Isaiah said to
Hezekiah, Hear the word of Yahweh. 20:17 Behold, the days come, that all
that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store
to this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, says
Yahweh. 20:18 Of your sons who
shall issue from you, whom you shall father, shall they take away; and
they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. 20:19 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah,
Good is the word of Yahweh which you have spoken. He said moreover, Isn't
it so, if peace and truth shall be in my days? 20:20 Now the rest of the acts of
Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit,
and brought water into the city, aren't they written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah? 20:21 Hezekiah slept with his fathers;
and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

21:1 Manasseh was twelve
years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in
Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hephzibah. 21:2 He did that which was evil in the
sight of Yahweh, after the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast
out before the children of Israel. 21:3 For he built again the high
places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars
for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshiped
all the army of the sky, and served them. 21:4 He built altars in the house of
Yahweh, of which Yahweh said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. 21:5 He built altars for all the army
of the sky in the two courts of the house of Yahweh. 21:6 He made his son to pass through
the fire, and practiced sorcery, and used enchantments, and dealt with
those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he worked much evil in
the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger. 21:7 He set the engraved image of
Asherah, that he had made, in the house of which Yahweh said to David and
to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen
out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever; 21:8 neither will I cause the feet of
Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, if
only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them,
and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. 21:9 But they didn't listen: and
Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations
whom Yahweh destroyed before the children of Israel. 21:10 Yahweh spoke by his servants the
prophets, saying, 21:11 Because Manasseh king of Judah
has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the
Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his
idols; 21:12 therefore thus
says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Behold, I bring such evil on Jerusalem and
Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle. 21:13 I will stretch over Jerusalem
the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe
Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
21:14 I will cast off the
remnant of my inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their
enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;
21:15 because they have done
that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the
day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even to this day. 21:16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent
blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another;
besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was
evil in the sight of Yahweh. 21:17 Now the rest of the acts of
Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, aren't they
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 21:18 Manasseh slept with his fathers,
and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and
Amon his son reigned in his place. 21:19 Amon was twenty-two years old
when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: and his
mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 21:20 He did that which was evil in
the sight of Yahweh, as did Manasseh his father. 21:21 He walked in all the way that
his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and
worshiped them: 21:22 and he
forsook Yahweh, the God of his fathers, and didn't walk in the way of
Yahweh. 21:23 The servants of
Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house.
21:24 But the people of the
land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people
of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 21:25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon
which he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah? 21:26 He was
buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in
his place.

22:1 Josiah was eight years
old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem:
and his mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.
22:2 He did that which was
right in the eyes of Yahweh, and walked in all the way of David his
father, and didn't turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 22:3 It happened in the eighteenth
year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the
son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of Yahweh, saying, 22:4 Go up to Hilkiah the high priest,
that he may sum the money which is brought into the house of Yahweh, which
the keepers of the threshold have gathered of the people: 22:5 and let them deliver it into the
hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of Yahweh; and let
them give it to the workmen who are in the house of Yahweh, to repair the
breaches of the house, 22:6 to
the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons, and for buying
timber and cut stone to repair the house. 22:7 However there was no reckoning
made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand; for they
dealt faithfully. 22:8 Hilkiah
the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the
law in the house of Yahweh. Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he
read it. 22:9 Shaphan the
scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Your
servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have
delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the
house of Yahweh. 22:10 Shaphan
the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has delivered me a
book. Shaphan read it before the king. 22:11 It happened, when the king had
heard the words of the book of the law, that he tore his clothes. 22:12 The king commanded Hilkiah the
priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and
Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, 22:13 Go you, inquire of Yahweh for
me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this
book that is found; for great is the wrath of Yahweh that is kindled
against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this
book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us. 22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, and
Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the
prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas,
keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter);
and they talked with her. 22:15 She said to them, Thus says
Yahweh, the God of Israel: Tell you the man who sent you to me, 22:16 Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will
bring evil on this place, and on its inhabitants, even all the words of
the book which the king of Judah has read. 22:17 Because they have forsaken me,
and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger
with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath shall be kindled
against this place, and it shall not be quenched. 22:18 But to the king of Judah, who
sent you to inquire of Yahweh, thus you shall tell him, Thus says Yahweh,
the God of Israel: As touching the words which you have heard, 22:19 because your heart was tender,
and you did humble yourself before Yahweh, when you heard what I spoke
against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a
desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I
also have heard you, says Yahweh. 22:20 Therefore, behold, I will gather
you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace,
neither shall your eyes see all the evil which I will bring on this place.
They brought the king word again.

23:1 The king sent, and
they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 23:2 The king went up to the house of
Yahweh, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with
him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and
great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant
which was found in the house of Yahweh. 23:3 The king stood by the pillar, and
made a covenant before Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, and to keep his
commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his
heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that
were written in this book: and all the people stood to the covenant.
23:4 The king commanded
Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the
keepers of the threshold, to bring forth out of the temple of Yahweh all
the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the
army of the sky, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of
the Kidron, and carried the ashes of them to Bethel. 23:5 He put down the idolatrous
priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high
places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem; those
also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the
planets, and to all the army of the sky. 23:6 He brought out the Asherah from
the house of Yahweh, outside of Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned
it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast its dust on the
graves of the common people. 23:7 He broke down the houses of the
sodomites, that were in the house of Yahweh, where the women wove hangings
for the Asherah. 23:8 He
brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high
places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and
he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of
the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left
hand at the gate of the city. 23:9 Nevertheless the priests of the
high places didn't come up to the altar of Yahweh in Jerusalem, but they
ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 23:10 He defiled Topheth, which is in
the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or
his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. 23:11 He took away the horses that the
kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of
Yahweh, by the chamber of Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court;
and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 23:12 The altars that were on the roof
of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the
altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Yahweh,
did the king break down, and beat them down from there, and cast
the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 23:13 The high places that were before
Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mountain of corruption,
which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination
of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom
the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. 23:14 He broke in pieces the pillars,
and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men.
23:15 Moreover the altar that
was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke
down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the
Asherah. 23:16 As Josiah
turned himself, he spied the tombs that were there in the mountain; and he
sent, and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned them on the altar,
and defiled it, according to the word of Yahweh which the man of God
proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 23:17 Then he said, What monument is
that which I see? The men of the city told him, It is the tomb of the man
of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that you have
done against the altar of Bethel. 23:18 He said, Let him be; let no man
move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet
who came out of Samaria. 23:19 All the houses also of the high
places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had
made to provoke Yahweh to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them
according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel. 23:20 He killed all the priests of the
high places that were there, on the altars, and burned men's bones on
them; and he returned to Jerusalem. 23:21 The king commanded all the
people, saying, Keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, as it is written in
this book of the covenant. 23:22 Surely there was not kept such a
Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the
days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; 23:23 but in the eighteenth year of
king Josiah was this Passover kept to Yahweh in Jerusalem. 23:24 Moreover those who had familiar
spirits, and the wizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the
abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did
Josiah put away, that he might confirm the words of the law which were
written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Yahweh.
23:25 Like him was there no
king before him, who turned to Yahweh with all his heart, and with all his
soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither
after him arose there any like him. 23:26 Notwithstanding, Yahweh didn't
turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, with which his anger was
kindled against Judah, because of all the provocation with which Manasseh
had provoked him. 23:27 Yahweh
said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel,
and I will cast off this city which I have chosen, even Jerusalem, and the
house of which I said, My name shall be there. 23:28 Now the rest of the acts of
Josiah, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah? 23:29 In his days Pharaoh Necoh king
of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and
king Josiah went against him; and Pharaoh Necoh killed him at
Megiddo, when he had seen him. 23:30 His servants carried him in a
chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in
his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and
anointed him, and made him king in his father's place. 23:31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years
old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: and
his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 23:32 He did that which was evil in
the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his fathers had done. 23:33 Pharaoh Necoh put him in bonds
at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and
put the land to a tribute of one hundred talents of silver, and a talent
of gold. 23:34 Pharaoh Necoh
made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and
changed his name to Jehoiakim: but he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to
Egypt, and died there. 23:35 Jehoiakim gave the silver and
the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to
the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the
people of the land, of everyone according to his taxation, to give it to
Pharaoh Necoh. 23:36 Jehoiakim
was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven
years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of
Pedaiah of Rumah. 23:37 He did
that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his
fathers had done.

24:1 In his days
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant
three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. 24:2 Yahweh sent against him bands of
the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and
bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it,
according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servants the
prophets. 24:3 Surely at the
commandment of Yahweh came this on Judah, to remove them out of his sight,
for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, 24:4 and also for the innocent blood
that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood: and Yahweh
would not pardon. 24:5 Now the
rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, aren't they written in
the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 24:6 So Jehoiakim slept with his
fathers; and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 24:7 The king of Egypt didn't come
again out of his land any more; for the king of Babylon had taken, from
the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king
of Egypt. 24:8 Jehoiachin was
eighteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned in Jerusalem
three months: and his mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan
of Jerusalem. 24:9 He did that
which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his father
had done. 24:10 At that time
the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and
the city was besieged. 24:11 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came to the city, while his servants were besieging it; 24:12 and Jehoiachin the king of Judah
went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and
his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the
eighth year of his reign. 24:13 He carried out there all the
treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king's house,
and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel
had made in the temple of Yahweh, as Yahweh had said. 24:14 He carried away all Jerusalem,
and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand
captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, save the
poorest sort of the people of the land. 24:15 He carried away Jehoiachin to
Babylon; and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers,
and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to
Babylon. 24:16 All the men of
might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths one thousand,
all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought
captive to Babylon. 24:17 The
king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's father's brother, king
is his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 24:18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years
old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and
his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 24:19 He did that which was evil in
the sight of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 24:20 For through the anger of Yahweh
did it happen in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his
presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

25:1 It happened in the
ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the
month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army,
against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against
it around it. 25:2 So the city
was besieged to the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 25:3 On the ninth day of the
fourth month the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no
bread for the people of the land. 25:4 Then a breach was made in the
city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate
between the two walls, which was by the king's garden (now the Chaldeans
were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of
the Arabah. 25:5 But the army
of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of
Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. 25:6 Then they took the king, and
carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment on
him. 25:7 They killed the sons
of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound
him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 25:8 Now in the fifth month, on the
seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, to Jerusalem. 25:9 He burnt the house of Yahweh, and
the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house,
burnt he with fire. 25:10 All
the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard,
broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 25:11 The residue of the people who
were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of
Babylon, and the residue of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of
the guard carry away captive. 25:12 But the captain of the guard
left of the poorest of the land to work the vineyards and fields. 25:13 The pillars of brass that were
in the house of Yahweh, and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the
house of Yahweh, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried the brass
of them to Babylon. 25:14 The
pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the
vessels of brass with which they ministered, took they away. 25:15 The fire pans, and the basins,
that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver,
the captain of the guard took away. 25:16 The two pillars, the one sea,
and the bases, which Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, the brass
of all these vessels was without weight. 25:17 The height of the one pillar was
eighteen cubits, and a capital of brass was on it; and the height of the
capital was three cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital
around it, all of brass: and like to these had the second pillar with
network. 25:18 The captain of
the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest,
and the three keepers of the threshold: 25:19 and out of the city he took an
officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the
king's face, who were found in the city; and the scribe, the captain of
the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people
of the land, who were found in the city. 25:20 Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
25:21 The king of Babylon
struck them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So
Judah was carried away captive out of his land. 25:22 As for the people who were left
in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even
over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,
governor. 25:23 Now when all
the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of
Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even
Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah
the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the
Maacathite, they and their men. 25:24 Gedaliah swore to them and to
their men, and said to them, Don't be afraid because of the servants of
the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it
shall be well with you. 25:25 But it happened in the seventh
month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the
royal seed came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah, so that he
died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah. 25:26 All the people, both small and
great, and the captains of the forces, arose, and came to Egypt; for they
were afraid of the Chaldeans. 25:27 It happened in the seven and
thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the
twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that
Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift
up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; 25:28 and he spoke kindly to him, and
set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon,
25:29 and changed his prison
garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days
of his life: 25:30 and for his
allowance, there was a continual allowance given him of the king, every
day a portion, all the days of his life.

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